This document provides an overview of robots and astronauts in space exploration and how individuals can get involved through simulations and organizations. It discusses how robots help with long-term space exploration by not needing things like oxygen or food. Astronauts have proven humans can live and work in space, conducting repairs and scientific experiments. Free software like Stellarium and Orbiter allow users to explore space from their computers. People are encouraged to join space societies to support continued human and robotic exploration.
1. Robots,* Astronauts,** and You*** Exploring Space with a Computer! Bruce Irving Aldrich Astronomical Society NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador October 2008 Picture from Orbiter space flight simulator: International Space Station above New England ** *** * * * *
7. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Is Hubble a robot? Yes, because it takes complex orders from engineers on the ground that it can remember and follow on its own. Its pictures of faint distant objects often take hours to record – HST must keep itself pointed exactly at the target as it orbits the Earth.
9. The Famous Mars Rovers… Spirit and Opportunity have been roving Mars since January 2004, on a mission that was planned for only 90 sols (Mars days) – they have traveled for miles and have made many discoveries, including various signs of water that flowed millions of years ago when Mars was apparently a much wetter planet than now.
10. … and the women who drive them! JPL, March 18, 2008 – an all-woman Mars Rover science/engineering team
11. Cassini: Our robot eyes at Saturn Cassini was launched in 1997 and started orbiting Saturn in 2004. It dropped off a smaller robot called Huygens to land on Saturn’s cloudy moon Titan. Cassini’s orders are complicated, and it has taken thousands of detailed pictures of Saturn and its many moons.
12. Phoenix: Our latest robot on Mars Right now, Phoenix is digging into the soil near the north pole of Mars, looking for ice (it found it) and for chemicals that could be signs of ancient Martian life.
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15. The Real Buzz! Buzz Aldrin at Tranquility Base, July 1969
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17. Apollo 17 Astronauts on the Moon Apollo 17 was the last Moon landing to date (December 1972). Commander Gene Cernan (left, with Lunar Rover) and geologist Jack Schmitt (with flag) spent 3 days on the Moon, driving for miles and changing their exploration plans based on what they found. They discovered important clues to the history of the Earth-Moon system.
18. Astronauts repairing Hubble The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and was designed so that shuttle astronauts could later upgrade it in orbit. But it had a mistake in its telescope optics, so in 1993, the first service mission was used to repair it so it could take good pictures. Later missions upgraded its ability to reveal the secrets of the Universe by studying faint objects billions of light years away.
20. Robots and Astronauts Team Up Robots are already helping astronauts in space. The shuttle and the ISS have big “robotic arms” that allow astronauts to move huge objects and be moved around easily for space walks. This is a new multi-arm robot called DEXTRE that’s on the space station now.
21. Coming up… ROBONAUT! To help astronauts on future missions, NASA is developing an experimental human-shape robot called Robonaut. It will be able to fit in spaces made for humans, and even use tools made for human astronauts. It will probably operate at first by “telepresence” where it will act as the eyes, arms, and hands of an astronaut who is sitting safely inside the spacecraft.
24. Explore Space on the Web Check out www.nasa.gov – they have TONS of great stuff on the web for every age and interest!
25. Watch the Astronauts Work NASA TV is available for free on the web ( www.nasa.gov/ntv ) and on some cable TV systems. During shuttle and ISS missions, they broadcast live coverage of the launch, docking with the space station, astronaut space walks and other tasks, and landing. You can learn a lot from watching the astronauts work!
30. New! WorldWide Telescope New and free from Microsoft is WorldWide Telescope, a wonderful planetarium and astronomy exploration tool. After installation, it still requires a web connection to access and display a wide range of astronomy images from many sources, and includes narrated tours and much more. www.worldwidetelescope.org (Windows only).
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33. Orbiter Sample Screens Docking with the space station in the Deltaglider, a cool futuristic space plane that you can fly yourself in Orbiter
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36. The Distant Future? "Since, in the long run, every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring – not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive. If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds." Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot , 1994
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